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Went to naturopathy treatment centre- 38lbs 4 weeks.

At 167cm weighing an astonishing 243Lbs, I had more than enough. I was sitting with a high profile client in my office where the chair broke. Though it was highly embarrassing, the client was very understanding and even said that we could continue this discussion later if I was hurt. I was not hurt outside but inside I was crying. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I have come down from 250lbs in past to 175lbs with strict diet and regular exercise but once I leave my routine I quickly gain all the weight back. So I was stuck above 230lbs since past 1 year, was constantly increasing on scale. Sometimes I would diet for a week or 2, drop 10bs and then regain back when I stop.

This chair breaking incident got me thinking, thinking really hard. I knew going this way, I will soon hit 260-270lbs and I needed a solution. Not the solution of regular dieting because I will get motivated for 1-2 week and then return back to normal again.

One of the guys I knew had recommended me a fat camp kind of thing a year ago. I called him and requested a information meet. I spent good hour with him understanding why it is the right thing for me. I finally made a decision to go. I got approval from my office, my boss was really understanding and even granted 1week as medical leave so I don't end up utilise my all holiday days on this.

So I booked the centre for 3 weeks, got the next available single room 17 days from the day I made the application. I thought I will utilise those 17 days by working out and dieting at home but I failed miserably for the first 10. I was like one day dieting, then 2 days eating, then 2 days dieting, then one day eating. All in all in 10 days I neither gained, neither lost anything. It was 1 week to go and I decided to make the best of it. I started GM diet. It was very difficult, but I was going to invest so much time away from work in the treatment centre which made me stay strict for a week. I lost about 10-11lbs by doing GM diet and 2 hours walk daily. One hour morning and one hour evening.

When I reached the centre, I weighed 230lbs. I think their scale was slightly different. Before Weight: 243 LBs
After Weight: 232LBs
New Scale: 230LBs
so from now I will consider 230Lbs my new weight.

I won't say I was surprised when I saw the timetable because the guy had given me very good info on what to expect. However, when you experience its much much harder.

Day 0: I reached there, got shown around, fed with some fruits and other extremely low cal stuff and then asked to see the main doctor. The doctor was very friendly and made every effort to understand why I am here and what I am expecting to gain (loose would be more appropriate). After a brief interview, he devised a diet plan for 2 days and treatment for 2 days and asked me to come back after day after for next day plan. He further told me to see 3 more doctors. I was confused why I am being sent to so many people but didn't question. Turns out it was just to understand if I have any more problems like neck pain/ back pain, etc. One of the doctors was Yoga master who enrolled me in a yoga class and told me my yoga timings. All in all, on the day 0 i didn't do anything but just understood whats there and walked for 45 mins. The real game begins tomorrow.

The rest of the days were pretty much the same routine.

5:00- This was the wake up time. However, no one checks on you so you could keep sleeping. If you choose to do that then its your own loss. I missed two days where I woke up late and literally cursed myself for that.
6:00- You go for a walk. Again no one checks on you. You could even go for walk at 5 but they recommend 6 (no reason). One hour is expected but once again no one is checking on you.
7:30- Yoga. Here they see to it that everybody comes. If you even miss one class, they will confront you. I missed one class and was asked the reason. Told him I overslept. He put me with a different advanced class batch on that evening.
Yoga +laughing session lasts for approx 1-1.30 hours. In that 45mins is yoga and rest is breathing, laughing and few relaxing stuff.
9:00- Your treatment begin. They have 4hours allotted for morning treatment. The doctor designs the schedule for you so some treatment could be as long as 1hour and some could be 20mins. You can go anytime between 9-13:00. I was usually the first one as I left immediately after yoga. Treatment is all natural, like different kinds of massage, whirlpool bath, Sauna, Steam, Mud Baht, etc etc etc.
10:00-15:00- This is the lunch time. You just can't barge in and pick up whatever you want. The doctor has given you the diet and they will give you whatever is written. Even 1 extra piece of fruit is not allowed. Its in the lunch room where networking happens and people get to know each other. I talked with few people of my age but they were nothing but distraction. I will explain this part later.
15:-17:00- This is leisure. But I used to hit the gym at this time. Gym was nothing but 3 treadmills, 2 cross trainers and few weights. I came to know that Gym wasn't encouraged here and walking was given preference.
17:30- Pool exercise. They had some group session in the pool. I thought it was waste of time because exercise wasn't tiring one bit. You couldn't feel like you were doing anything. I think this was for people with no stamina or morbidly obese.
18:00: Walk. Once again no one to check. Walk if you want otherwise do whatever. I saw many young guys (my age) sitting around and chatting enjoying the weather. I was invited to join several times but I always politely declined. It came to a point where they stopped asking me. One girl even asked me if I am gay because I never interacted with them.
19-21:00- Dinner. Usually people finished by 20:00. I went at 21:00 twice and was told to try and come early next time (obviously in a very polite way). Funny but whatever. Later I asked why because time was 21:00 and they told me people for weightloss shouldn't eat late. 21:00 is fine for people who have come for other treatments. Fair enough.

Right so after 1 week, I lost 8Lbs. I was happy but doctor thought I wasn't working hard enough. According to him, because I am obese, I should have lost weight faster. Though he didn't change the diet or anything because I was already at bare minimum.

Before Weight: 230 LBs
After Weight: 222LBs

Second week was fantastic. Lost 12Lbs. Doctor happy. Me on the moon. He asked me if I am okay to do fasting. I said no problem. So he put me on fasting for 2 days said we could see if we can include an additional day if I am doing well. It wasn't fasting exactly, more like limited liquid diet. Was fed juices and one soup. Wasn't difficult that much. Was keeping myself busy. I started staying less in the room. Spent my relaxing time in Library. Increased my walking time. Now I started walking 3 times. One morning, one evening and one after the dinner time. Dinner time walk was pretty relaxed one. Morning and evening was brisk. Ordered two sweatpants for next day delivery as the old one started to feel very baggy. When the parcel arrived, it was checked to ensure I am not getting any food item inside. By the way they have a store selling clothes and everything you need inside the treatment centre, but quality was not up to the standard.

Before Weight: 222 LBs
After Weight: 210LBs

Last Week: Doctor said I should be happy to loose anything above 5Lbs because second week was fantastic. He said as per his experience 2-3Lbs will happen. I had already done fasting during second week so he denied my request to put me on fasting again. He even increased my meal size. Well he is the doctor, so whatever he is doing must be right.I continued working hard. I was going to depart the next day 6.00am so they checked my final weight the day before at 4.00PM. I lost 8Lbs that week. Couldn't meet the doctor on the final day because it was his day off. He didn't know my checkout timing. The temp doctor didn't say anything. I cleared my bill and everything and went for the evening walk. On the dinner time, I was fed proper dinner. Was told last day they give everybody proper dinner because they have to travel and its necessary to eat a proper meal before someone rushed to eat whatever he desires. I felt so guilty eating because since 3 weeks I was only on fruit and soup. Left half of it.

Before Weight: 210 LBs
After Weight: 202LBs

Checked out, had some fruits at the airport and came back home. Parents delighted. GF extremely happy. Next day even boss was impressed. Colleagues jealous.

Weight on home scale: 205Lbs

Some thoughts about the place: I would say if you have time then do it. If you don't have time, find time. If you have tried dieting many times and failed then I guess this or any other similar place will be good to start. Health comes first. I am young so still I haven't experienced many problems but listening to doctors and few people talk over there, some problems will eat your life. There was one guy, morbidly obese who wasn't even able to walk 500m. I felt for him. There was one guy who told me he got fired because his job involved travelling a lot and he could never fit into economy class. The company couldn't afford paying Business Class for him and had to let him go. He came here to loose weight and will rejoin his company once he is able to travel economy again. He was there for 2 months.

The place is no magic. However, if you follow doctor orders and exercise then the magic will happen. They don't give you any medicine or diet pills. Its just natural. However your calorie intake is monitored. There were few guys and girls my age who thought they were geniuses because they cracked a method to smuggle in chips/ crisps, cigarettes and other packed food. Basically there were some job construction workers who brought these stuff and sold them at 4-5x the price secretly. I was like why come here in the first place if you want to eat all these.

Now I am back, the doctor has mailed me the diet plan that I should follow for next few months. I am allowed to go crazy once every fortnight according to him but I guess I will do it once a week. After all I have a life.

Will I go again?
Yes, but for 10 days only. This will be after I have lost another 20lbs. I am giving myself 3 months to do it. The first month weight loss has been very drastic and not practical. I have got myself checked by my GP and everything is normal. I have shown a dietician my plan and she has approved it.

So I have long long way to go, but I have got the start which I desperately wanted. To keep myself motivated, I have booked a beach holiday in the month of Oct. I will for the first time will go shirtless in public. Thats my target.

I know its a long post but I thought to write it down so I could look back and remind me to stay focused because I have invested a lot of time in that place. I specifically didn't put the name down of the treatment centre because few people will say I am promoting this place. If you really want to know and if its okay with the rules then PM me and I will give you the link. Any questions feel free to ask.